The question is what will little become? Will little remain the mouse guide? Or will little become a giant wolf like beast that could better protect Ruby…both guide and guardian?
She may have been deflated after what happened with Ruby, but I'm surprised Neo didn't seem to have even an ember of vengeance left for Cinder and her betrayal - Roman may have survived if it wasn't for Cinder's plan after all.
Cinder was someone she despised but 99% of her drive and animosity was still aimed toward Ruby - especially now that she was stuck in an entirely different realm where Cinder was out of reach.
She's aware, hence why she went after cinder in the first place. However, the gap in strength between the two is too vast. So she'll settle for what she can get
whatever Ruby chooses, whatever she decides, I am PRAYING hoping she'll still be herself with her memories intact, but with a brand new outfit and stuff, plus an evolved semblance.
I had that feeling ever since I saw the blacksmith in the episodes. And with the info the cat gave us makes even more sense for the smith to be alix. "She wanted to stay behind to help repair the things she broke." And what's the title of the one who repairs and creates? A smith.
I think they got to the tree that fast because as long as they were in a group, the tree would not "grant" passage unless everyone had the right mindset. Blake, Yang and Weiss had passage after visiting Herb and figuring out their feelings, but they were held down by Ruby. Then after Ruby left, they were held down by Jaune, that's why after Jaune learnt to accept everything, they got immediately transported to the tree.
The Cat actually seems weaker than Neo now, maybe because The Cat isn't familiar with Neo's body, Jaune and the others did seem to be having more luck fighting the Cat than Jaune, Ren, and Nora did.
Out of all the episodes in Volume 9 this is so far my personal favorite one. -Yang shattering the illusions in rage -Jaune kinda kicking the cats butt -The paper pleasers being reborn -Group hug moment -Comedic posing from NekoNeo However, I do hate how agreeably jarring the group hug moment was as literally few minutes ago....they just saw Cat take over Neo's body very morbidly and Ruby go into Ascension.
For me it’s the Yang smiling. I actually don’t think the hug is wrong especially Weiss. Her and Jaune have two defining moments together that forged a bond. Jaune saving her life, and the mercy killing of Penny. She omitted Jaunes actions when retelling to Yang Blake and Ruby exactly what happened to Penny, and after the knights reveal they’ve done a good job framing Weiss and Jaune together. As for Yang the smile is what bothers me. She spent half a volume following Jaunes lead. She saw him at his best, with Ren throwing failures in his face. Yet he forged ahead, and in monstra terrified Jaune acted as a beacon for her and Ren. Ren literally said that Jaune had no fear he knew they would save Oscar. When Yang heard that. She responded “then I do to” So her being happy to see him come out of his broken she’ll must’ve been a relief for her.
If they were combined...Neo's Overactive Imagination combined with the cat would REALLY make her a Cheshire Cat of a character...I could see a now cat Faunus Neo vanishing slowly from view only to reappear near Cinder later...showing up first as a wide grinning tooth filled mouth and eyes before stabbing her with Hush. Very much like how the Cheshire Cat appears and disappears, usually smile first when appearing or smile last when disappearing. I could see Blake just having the blankest look on her face at seeing Neo is now a cat Faunus like her.
I just realized that Ruby chose to ascend. While Jaune may have no choice but ascend. It's stuff like this where I love the connections Jaune and Ruby have.
Do you know how to make the most awkward version of the denouement of this story ? If Ruby becomes Summer. And Jon will now be reborn as Pyrrha . I think in this case there will be "every team exe not responding" for at least a month =)))
I am actually fine with the tone of the interactions between Yang, Blake, Weiss and Jaune. Because them seeing the ascended Paper Pleasers confirms that the tree isn't death. I think the pacing was a little off here. Maybe showing them leaving the Manson wasn't smart because it made it feel like this happened immediatly after last Episode. But after watching the whole episode I do think they took a little bit of time to overcome their shock and focus on getting to the tree. I also think it wasn't acceptence for Ruby's fate that brought them to the tree but acceptence for their own failures.
that was actually one of the only good dynamic that includes wby all together. god dammit it they show more concern and compassion to jaune than ruby wth
@@kingnewgameplus6483 I don't know that the team is actually aware that Ruby basically wanted to die. They only saw Ruby drink the tea, they don't know the extent of the torture that she endured beforehand, they don't know that Ruby said she didn't want to be herself anymore. From their POV, they agreed that the tree was rebirth, not death, then Ruby had a burn out and decided to be reborn. So yes they are worried about what's gonna happen to Ruby now, but I don't think that they ever realized that Ruby felt so bad she wanted to die. If they did, then it's not being portrayed well at all.
Agreed, I just sorta assumed they had been processing everything that just happened on the ride away from the mansion. It took them a while to get to Ruby, so it makes sense it would take a while to get back, and idk how long they'd been riding for before the episode started. I do think they could have benefitted from another few minutes to expand on their feelings about Ruby before jumping into accepting their failures, but I'm okay without it
Agreed on needing an extra episode to explore the crew's reactions to Ruby drinking the tea. WBY needed to not only process what had just happened to Ruby, but needed to process how they all got to that point. They talk about it a little bit in Episode 8, but it wasn't really explored enough especially when they see Ruby beaten bloodied and with no light in her eyes. She drank the tea thinking she would die, and had committed to it. Even if WBYJ didn't know what Neo put Ruby through, they would still need to come to terms with the fact they weren't truly there for Ruby. And I think, had we seen them accept that, it would have made an acceptable way for them to make it to the tree. As you pointed out in your "Build up to Ruby's breakdown" video, there were points where Ruby's wellbeing was pushed aside for the mission. Where even the Ever After was pointing out that Ruby wasn't well (the rain), which was ignored. So having them accept that they failed her would have been a good way to get them to the tree. It would feel more "earned", in a way.
I am so glad we didn't get traumatized this week. And really glad neo is so broken she doesn't want to return to remnant. Now for ruby's time in the tree, i really really really REALLY hope she comes out dual wielding both her and summer's weapons with a red like roses part 3 at full blast
The theme of acceptance is a lesson that Team WBY and Jaune have learned. Maybe even Ruby as well. If so, then they will have gained something that Salem herself failed to. Salem refused to accept the death of her husband, Ozma, which is what caused so much suffering to occur.
Ironically, if what was told from The Girl in the Tower is to be believed, Salem's father also refused to accept his wife's death and kept Salem like she was property because she greatly resembled her mother and feared about losing her "again". His actions put a generational curse on Salem. Dooming her to repeat his mistake. Besides, people can't just accept death, immediately. They need comfort and love from people to who care for them. The problem is Salem never had anybody else before Ozma came along. She had no friends, no siblings and not pets. It was just her nanny. But we don't know what happened to her before or after Ozma saved Salem. She might have passed away at some point. Ozma was everything to her until he was taken away from her by natural causes much how her mother was taken away from her father by natural causes.
I think it's interesting the first Gem JWBY meets is red, you know, like a ruby, and its immediate response is to ask what it can do for them. I suspect that's some foreshadowing that Ruby will come back as herself, memories intact, with her new (or more like renewed) purpose to simply try to help, even if sometimes the world has to dissolve a bit to get to something beautiful.
Maybe a extra scene of them inside the manor trying to process what happened to Ruby, but then Juniper signals for them to hop on before the manor fully collapses and it takes them a bit of time to get back to the flooded village.
I know that this will be a little OP, but I hope Ruby's ascended form has easier access to her Silver Eyes power. I mean, they teased it so much, only for it to be near-worthless because Ruby went through too much trauma to use it...
@@logan12satcom83 I think it's more then 80% actually. I still think this entire season would be entirely obsolete if they don't get out with something they can use for the war against Salem.
I think the reason why Weiss, Blake, Yang and possibly Jaune went directly to the tree at that moment is because they already answered the questions they had to answer to go back to remnant. When team RWBY arrived in front of Herb, he burned leaves of the tree, surrounding them with smoke and making them face their younger selves. Weiss, Blake and Yang where all sure of who they where and conscious that mistakes are not a reason to lose hope. But Ruby didn't answer the questions, because she was stopped by the Cat, plus not knowing what to answer. I don't know / remember if Jaune answered the questions too when he was with Lewis and Alyx. But I do think that Weiss, Blake, Yang and Jaune simply needed to understand the purpose of these questions, which is acceptance, of themselves, and that life is not as simple as they thought so when they where young.
I gotta say Summer’s voice sounded exactly like I thought it would. As far as with Alyx I’m leaning towards her being the blacksmith and it will likely be the blacksmith stepping in to stop the cat by sending it to be ascended in the next episode.
I don’t think the Blacksmith was forging a Jabberwalker mask, it looked more similar to Little’s face, only bigger. Honestly, I think it would be kind of interesting if Little ascended from a tiny mouse to a giant squirrel!
Weiss shot Jaune with fire dust and may have killed him. The prophecy of Joan of Arc dying in flames has been fulfilled. Even in the intro with Jaune in the flames.
Well I think I know who Little will come back as. Ruby is Red Riding Hood, Summer was hinted at being the Woodsman and Now I think we're going to get the REAL Big Bad Wolf and not just Grimm stand ins. As for Neo as I said in a comment on episode 8, I think when Ruby comes back she's going to try and save her, Help her find a reason to come back to Remnent, Maybe convince her to do what Roman never had the chance to do create a criminal (she's still working through some things) empire!
It looked to me like the blacksmith was making a mouse shaped mask, so i think little is the one who will take Jaune's Role as protector once he leaves. *Eddit* Also it was obvious Alex stayed because we know the Author of the book is name Lewis
The way I see it it might turn into Amy rosé moment from the Archie comics where Amy wished herself to be a bit older. Ruby isn’t going to wish herself to be exactly her mother but I do feel she will age and be a bit older than everyone. We will see a blend of maturity but still the side of Ruby we still know.
Honestly have some issues with this Ep. 1: Not sure why everyone seemed fine at the start, thought it would show the group being affected by seeing Ruby disappearance at the start with Yang breaking down before being helped back up. 2: Wish they extended Jaune’s arc since it seemed rush with the start of him coming to terms already, felt it could be pushed more. 3: Thought the dialogue would be different and more deep with Ruby letting out everything, her fear, anxiety, pain, to receive much needed guidance from the smith, perhaps showing visions of her mother and what led her to who she was before she changed, maybe show her what could have happened if she hadn’t done anything. 4: I hope to God Neo does not die or get trapped in the Ever after realm, it would be a damn shame.
So for 4, neo more likely is gonna stay. There really isn't anything left for her in remnant, even if she tried to get revenge on cinder for her betrayal it's impossible for her to even succeeds at this point. Also the fact that having her revenge with ruby it didn't make her feeling any better most likely lost her her only reason to live. I do believe that neo is gonna ascend into either a new cat or as a new companion for anyone that falls to ever after.
@@LordEyepatch least she stays alive somehow with a better chance of redemption, as you see neo can't pass through the door because there's nothing for her in remnant and her only motivation getting swallowed by the tree my her doing. That's my opinion though, have a idea what is neo's purpose or motivation can be after if the heroes are able to take the car out of her body
Personally, I feel like Ruby’s ascension will affect Neo somehow and create a connection and she’ll have a reignited anger towards Cinder, since in an early episode when Neo fell down, it was made quite apparent she hasn’t forgotten that betrayal, but with Ruby “gone” she got a haze. “I did it, now what?” Could you imagine if Ruby ends up replacing the void Roman left to sate Neo? Very speculative but not outside of the possibilities I imagine
Look, I'm loving this volume as a whole. But I was expecting the team to be far more devastated after Ruby fell. Specially Yang. She saw her beaten up sister basicaly commit suicide in front of her. But she was already smilling right after that and that group hug? Not the moment for that at all... I couldn't stop thinking about how out of place that was through the entire episode and is things like this that makes me question crwby capabilities sometimes...
You have to keep in mind tho, this isn't death. They knew Ruby wasn't dead. She was just becoming something different. Sure, that's still them losing Ruby in a sense and Yang reacts when the reality of it all hits her and she starts trying to break her sister out of the tree. But the reason we saw the new PPs is to let us know that Ruby will be okay. She'll be different, but she'll be what she needs to be and we need to welcome that. No big reactions because the team knows that things will be okay as long as they keep the cat from ruining Ruby's ascension.
I couldn’t agree more. I was thrown off at that part. It felt off putting that the entirety of WBY didn’t even stop to mention what just happened to Ruby. You would think that if your sister, best friend, or long time comrade practically died and was taken you’d get some sort of reaction. It was only when they saw Ruby at the tree encased in wood that only Yang had some sort of reaction. Other than that, I really liked this episode and look forward to what Ruby will become.
This episode completely killed the momentum of the previous one. It was very jarring and left me with my mouth open and eyebrow raised at the end of it.
i kinda give the team a lil more leeway because we saw how badly Ruby was emotionally and physically assaulted, but the team didn't. All they saw is Ruby drink from a cup and get swallowed up from the earth. And then had to run from Cat Neo immediately after. I see this argument a lot that "It's basically like suicide" and im not gonna argue that it isn't, but when you think of it from their perspective, it's a little harder to conceptualize? First they were told that ascension meant coming back, and then Jaune tells them that ascension meant Death, and then back again when the former PP explained that Ascension meant Rebirth. Now, Ruby is gone and they're going to go get her back, so maybe in a sense, it hasn't really hit them about the possibility of Ruby being truly gone. I'll admit tho, this episode was much too short to be entirely satisfying so i understand why a lot of people were unhappy with the direction the story went went, resolving the team's emotions too quickly.
If Jaune does ascend at this moment he could very possibly end up along with Ruby to talk with her. Completing that foil you mentioned. Also I think Juniper could very well be Alex due to the cat saying that Alex would save the knight which would connect things. Neo could also at the end of this, ascend as well once the cat is removed or could even stay behind in the world. Either way could work but I dont think she will die. Just my opinion, hell she could ascend and come back with a voice. That would be cool.
It did all happen a little too quickly but I have dealt with the death of a loved one and it took me a lot longer to process their death and was able to feel any emotion attached to it. But they probably could have cared a little more about Ruby pretty much dying right in front of their eyes.
If you ask me, the only reason that It felt kinda rushed that everyone else Reach "acceptance" is only because they'd all already gotten there Before that point. Yang and Blake literally had a whole world to themselves to reach acceptance about themselves. Weiss Gave up with trying to understand the everafter about at the same time as that as well, which is it's own form of Acceptance. Jaune and Ruby were the only two of them that ACTUALLY had more emotional growth to do with their present selves when they got sent to the tree. I should also note that I'm Fairly Certain that it's about Acceptance of the Self, not necessarily of Circumstances. So Yang Refusing to accept that her Sister Might be In trouble and that she can't Help would not Disqualify her from this "Acceptance".
I really did love this episode by I agree that there was this lack of urgency and lack of shock from the characters after seeing ruby in a physically and emotionally beaten state and seeing her just fall through a hole. Their acceptance also seemed rushed. I feel as though they are still not aware of Ruby's feelings and the weight she's been carrying which led her to drink the tea in the first place. I hope that this will be still be confronted and talked about next episode or even next season cause its a delicate situation ruby is in and deep communication is needed between her and her teammates.
I am in team Alyx is the Blacksmith. It may not be that the blacksmith is the tree, but just helping out the tree. A way to communicate with the ascendants and better understand them. I also want to point out, that after so many years, and the trauma of volume 1 I would assume Jaune would have a landing strategy to not die from that fall.
I believe the Blacksmith was actually reforging Little. I like to think that Little will become a huge Squirrel, a tie-in to the Norse Worlds Tree and the squirrel that lives in it. This would finish Little's story and their journey to find what they are. They wanted to be a good guide and help Ruby get to where she needed to be, to help Ruby to learn who and what she is. The last things that Little did were to try and get Ruby to go back to her friends after she ran off after the fight, then they protected her from the cat, only to die trying to help Ruby get up and move. It would be fitting that Little becomes a guide and guardian to those around them, leading them to where they need to be the most. Emphasis on the word "NEED", Little seemed to try to lead Ruby to where they NEEDED to go, not always where Ruby WANTED to go. Becoming the huge squirrel would also make Little strong enough to protect and carry those who need it. Just a small little detail, but the first weapon that Ruby looks at, is a hammer and could be another reference to Norse Mythology, Thor's hammer. I find it interesting that weapons are what the blacksmith uses to show who Ruby could be. Ruby has always had a deep connection to weapons, even the show has shown time and time again that weapons are a reflection of the wielder. Ruby has always been better with weapons than people, Yang comments on it in the first few episodes of volume 1. The Blacksmith seems to be using weapons to ask the same question that Ruby has been asked so many times already, "What are you?". Ruby didn't seem to fully understand the question, it's like the Blacksmith rephrased the question in a way to help her better understand what was being asked. Perhaps Ruby was struggling the most because of this lack of comprehension. After all, it is hard to answer something when you don't even know what is being asked. Ruby doesn't understand people, but she does understand weapons. The Blacksmith words it best, they ask Ruby if she could picture what the person who wields the weapon would be like and states that the one holding it could be you. they asked "What are you?" without saying those words. "What do you choose to be, Ruby Rose?" This is just another theory and idea I have. I also believe that Jaune will ascend, being reforged, but Jaune's body is not the only part of himself that is 'broken' but also his weapon. Adding on to the whole "weapons are an extension and mirror of the one wielding them" theme that has been shown throughout the entire series. So, I think Crocea Mors will also be 'reforged' as well. Jaune has had his weapon reforged before, after the fall of Beacon he had some of Pyrrha's armor added to his shield. What if Crocea Mors is reforged with the sword being fixed with one of Penny's own swords. A reminder of both of their choices and sacrifices which shaped Jaune into who he is at that moment. There is also the symbolism of Pyrrha most often fighting with her shield, and Penny most often fighting with her swords being reflected in the two parts of Jaune's own weapon.
I was surprised by Alyx's change of heart at the last moment, and it does seem likely thar Alyx was reborn as juniper to make up for what she did to Jaune. Apparently I was wrong about Lewis being stuck in the ever after and Alyx returning to Remnant to write the story the girl who fell. I accept that Lewis wrote the story in remembrance of both Alyx and Jaune, and Alyx was killed by the curious cat. It also makes sense Neo to not have any reason to return to Remnant after her victory against Ruby in the previous episode. She has nothing left beyond her revenge, thus keeping the cat trapped in the Ever After. However, it does make you wonder how Neo will react when Ruby returns from ascending and returns to Remnant. Will Neo have a reason to return to Remnant if Ruby returns and goes back to Remnant? I just can't help but feel like the cat will either be killed as to be the complete embodiment of the phrase "curiosity killed the cat", or succeed in their desire to get to Remnant to finally find a way to confront their makers, who are implied to be the two brothers. I also felt that Yang, Weiss, Blake, and Jaune got to the tree too quickly, and weren't as torn up by what happened to Ruby in the previous episode as they should have been. I did however like how Weiss helped Jaune, how Yang initially try to get Ruby out of the tree, and how the group realize that it really is up to Ruby to decide how she goes forward from here, even if it leads her to be different from before. I also like the confrontation and battle with the curious cat in Neo's body, with Yang smashing the Ruby copies when the cat brings up the very real possibility that Ruby won't return the same person she was, with the cat having a reason to go after Ruby as their best chance to get to Remnant, with the rest of team RWBY and Jaune defending Ruby to give her a chance to decide what happens next for herself, and for even the cat using Neo's powers to take on the forms of Penny and Pyrrha against Jaune while also tricking Weiss into knocking Jaune off the tree. I really hope that Jaune didn't die. It was interesting to see Ruby😢 interaction with the blacksmith in this episode. I really do hope that Little does play a role in what Ruby decides, especially since both of them were sent to the tree at around the same time, yet Little has yet to be seen again. As much as I want Ruby to return mostly the same, there's no doubt that she will be somewhat different by the end of the volume. I can't wait to see how this volume ends.
@Matthew Costello even though Neo made Ruby basically off herself and killed Little, I've always liked her and I feel bad for her after she was taken over right after losing her only anchor to Remnant and life itself. But yeah little gonna have some beef with the cat and Neo so wolf go nom nom Neo will probably die. Or be set free and there will be the start of a collection of bad guys turned good.
One of my theories is this: if the Ever After came before Remnant, then the tree is a practice run for Ozpin. The brothers Grimm got the idea of keeping a soul, but changing the body, from ascension. Now, the only thing that soul needed to keep was its memory. Also, I now believe in your theory about Alyx being Little.
Imagine if Ruby does just become Summer: Qrow: RUBY OH THANK G- SummeRuby: hi Qrow: *panicked confusion* Tai: *equally panicked confusion* Raven: this is not what I meant when I met you- Ozpin: even I'm confused
I love how ruby look designed her weapon based on summer's and crow's weapons A siyth that is also a sniper, Crow's weapons is a sword that becomes a siyth (and a shotgun) A axe that truns into a sniper. That's why ruby designed it that way
I am a very firm believer that Ruby has been subconsciously following in her mother's footsteps. Using her memories and stories of Summer Rose to measure what a great hero she was, and what Ruby should be. Particularly when you realise that in the past Ruby's reasoning to be a huntress has always been about the stories, she has read about them, but negates to mention who it is that read those stories TO her, as shown in the beginning of this episode. Weather she realises this or not, as also as a child you may associate things to certain people or memories without realising it. Much like how a certain smell or song for example can unlock a memory or nostalgia. I like to think of the tree as not ascension necessarily, but an "Epiphany Tree" if you will, where you can come to realise what you what and what your "Purpose" is, as the Ever After seems to drill into you. My hope for the next episode is to show us Ruby's memories of Summer, and how Summer has shaped who Ruby is. And to this point, Ruby will recognise and realise how much she has been trying to model herself as Summer. And then come to realise that she is not Summer, she is her own person and in doing so, will accept any mistakes or failures and will learn from them to be the best hero SHE can be. Not one that Summer would have been, or what Summer would have expected from her. Yang has mentioned before that Ruby may have been too young to realise what was going on when Summer had disappeared, but of course children are resilient and come to terms with such things in their own way. And by doing so, Ruby has followed in her footsteps in becoming a huntress. Not to surpassed Summer or replicate her (knowingly) but it feels normal for her. And in essence, feel closer to the mother that she had lost.
I, admittedly, felt the same at beginning with the JWBY hug and that whole part. I was like ‘This is very sweet but y’all don’t exactly have time for this 😶’. I loved the Genial Gems though they were adorable :3
I feel like we were really let down at the start of this episode. There is practically no reaction to Ruby "ascending" herself in front of all of them. Even if they knew she would be back, that is a heavy choice Ruby just made. We pick up and it seems like the crew is thinking "well crap now we have to go find Ruby again". ???? She just made a choice that could potentially mean she will never know who any of her team or anyone from Remnant is ever again. Personally feels like a let down to not have a big moment. What I wish we had: We start the episode right where it left off. Yang falls to the ground head tilted back tears flowing, Blake falls down and embraces Yang "You don't always have to be the strong one, just let it out, don't hold it inside". Yang screams out in anger, in pain, in sadness. Cut to Weiss tears falling as she turns her head away, cut to Jaune, his head drops and tears fall down his face. *scream ends and Yang collapses into Blake* Weiss comes over and embraces them both. Jaune now through tears and a strained voice of pain gives a few words to rally the girls maybe something like "Ruby isn't gone, she will come back and we need to be here for her when she does." (or something inspiring). Then they leave and the episode plays out. Don't get me wrong i'm not out here saying "I could have done it better". That is dumb. I just feel like we needed something to pay off Ruby's actions having almost no reaction last episode and to me feels like a let down.
22:30 To kind of give my take on this moment . In my opinion they should write it in a way where Ruby gets a new weapon, not necessarily Summer's weapon, but at least have some kind of a change there. and does not use Crescent Rose, at least not the same Crescent Rose she did before. Because if we can assume that the Weapon defines what the person is, it would be weird for Ruby to have this big of a change and still use the same weapon. Even tho i have to say, Summer's weapon looks pretty cool.
Guys. Yang, Weiss, and all of them just saw the paper pleasers that got murked come back as “better” versions of themselves. I feel like it’s actually completely reasonable that everyone wouldn’t be freaked out/sad after what happened to ruby because it’s already established that going to the tree isn’t a horrible thing. You always come back better from the tree.
I really hope Wiess didn't accidentally kill Jaune after that very important heart to heart they had for not only the White Knight ship but mostly character development. If Jaune does come back from the tree than there might be some problems among the way, Wiess has been mirroring the comic relief part him since volume 9 beginning. Jaune might become a Dark Supreme Knight just like Jaden was the Supreme King in YU-GI-OH GX.
22:38 - The ending credits had Summer's weapon on full display, that means its gonna be important to the series. They never put one-shot characters or things in the end credits, right?
If you think about each member of RWBY had moments to grapple with their identities except ruby. Weiss had icequeendom, Blake dealt with her Raj a with Adam and being a fonis, and Yang had her time dealing with her mother issues and loss of her hands.
15:08 - Just had a thought. We've seen what happens when someone dies in the Ever After. They ascend. But what if you arrive dead? Like Cinder's victims after being blown off the crossroads in Volume 8. I haven't seen any bodies in or out of the tree.
So I'm wandering if that scene from the opening with Jaune surrounded by fire was referring to him getting hit by Weiss's fire ball and falling. And also I'm a die hard arkos shipper but I can respect white knight as well.
I feel like because she chose Summer's Axe? Scythe? thing?, Ruby might not even change much at all. They are very alike as people like Qrow, Raven, Ozpin, Salem, etc. have noted Perhaps Ruby will return with her mother's weapon. And an understanding of what Summer had that Ruby did not. And that will be her ascension.
Hi, I love your videos! Seeing what you have to say about this volume and theories you have is very cool! It’s crazy that there’s only one episode left of volume 9, I’m very excited to see how it goes!
The genial gemstone is probably Ruby's equivalent (judging by its colour alone) which would be pretty nice thematically, her coming out of this stronger than before. The White Knight moments are definitely there (which I despise, Blumen all the way) assuming Juane doesn't, uh, fulfill his original character arc (pun unintended), which it's looking more and more like he might by the episode. I agree that when the blacksmith calls out Ruby's concern for the other souls it is selfish, but because she's trying to fulfill the same hero complex Juane describes earlier in the episode. Summer flashback is gonna be lit if it happens.
It looked to me like the mask the blacksmith was forging was a mouse's face. We're watching Little being reforged in this episode! I also definitely think Alyx became the blacksmith. The headband she's wearing looks like Alyx's bow, and her locs are the same colors as the stripes on Alyx's skirt! But most importantly, I think you may only be half right about what will happen when Ruby picks up Summer's weapon. I don't think she'll see her own memories of Summer, but some of Summer's own memories. She clearly idolizes her mother and wants to know what she really may have been like. When the blacksmith asks Ruby if she can feel the person who may wield the weapons, I think this is what she was talking about. Ruby may get a small taste of being that person when she picks up a weapon. And in picking up Summer's, she's challenging the standards she's been held to, both by herself and others
To be fair, the paper pleasers have been trying to ascend for a long time but Jaune kept stopping them, so they've had a lot of time to think about it lol
Cat may have taken on Neo's tricks, but he definitely doesn't have her grace in combat. One thing that really gets me though is whether or not Louis is really the one who wrote The Girl Who Fell Through The World. As we stated earlier, we aren't aware of Alyx's final fate. We know she stayed in EA but that's about it. If Alyx did ascend as someone else and then reascends back to normal, maybe she goes back to tell the story but with a mix of her perspective of events as well as well as Ruby's. I say that because throughout this volume, we've had that one lingering question: What are you? Unless their is some context that I'm missing, Alyx seemed to know what she was while Ruby was the one that was struggling. There was also something that Ruby mentioned about how the story was both true and yet false at the same time.
Considering how Lewis Carrol wrote Alice in Wonderland, having Lewis in RWBY be an author in this case makes sense. I wonder how many people caught that detail?
As you said it doesn’t happen often with conjured illusions of loved ones but FMA BH also did it with Mustang and Envy disguised as Hughes and had already accepted full fact that Hughes is gone
I agree, I feel like JWBY should be more affected by Ruby's disappearence. Not only did she leave them after her outburst, showing clearly that she was going through a lot, not only did they rush in after she had clearly been beaten up by Neo, but they also just saw her basically end herself. No matter if she'll be reborn or not, she did in fact try to end her existance. Please, guys, show SOME emotion about it? It really seemed like they didn’t care all that much, and they were way to happy considering what just happened.
Do you guys realize who’s color scheme the Curious Cat shares?! Human Salem! -And when he revealed his true colors? They were Salem’s monochrome theme! -I refuse to believe any of this is Mere coincidence.
the thing about summer's face...it's is almost picture-perfect ruby's...so who's to say whether it was the mother or the daughter reflected in that blade back when? also consider who is holding the weapon(that can be made into a scythe) in the start of the end credit sequence. they don't have the look of either.
Maybe this is just me, but I thought it was weird how Ruby didn't just run away from Neo, and instead chose drinking the tea to "ascend" (especially when all her friends/family are there to watch, when we are led to believe it's the ultimate form of self-destruction and giving up). It's narratively equivalent to both suicide (maybe literal character assassination in this case), and being a free power up upon resurrection (The only consequence being you may forget your memories, but hey, free power up. Even Isekai power ups feel more earned than this. Drinking suicide tea and being rewarded for it, seems in really poor taste, but I'll hold my breath to see where they go with this). It's also weird when the gang make the connection that being remade is what happens with ascension, but don't make the connection that the paper pleasers, upon becoming gems, no longer seem to have their memories. You'd think Yang would be really concerned about whether or not Ruby would remember anything at that point. It's equivalent to finding out your loved one is essentially gone forever, and like you said, prior to seeing the remade paper pleasers, Ruby could have literally just been gone, and Yang was acting way too unconcerned about that.
I think there is a chance we are go8ng to get a mix of Crecent Rose and her mothers weapon either that or Ruby uses her mother's weapon against the cat. Also wanted to point out a dark moment that being since the Cat created Penny and Pyrha that mean the cat sat and watch Neo break down Ruby only stepping in when Ruby was at her lowest. I also think the mask that the blacksmith was making was Littles new form.
Jaune was right. They have no memory of their life before, and they have a different body. They are essentially different people. The paper pleasers are dead. No amount of anyone lying to themselves that this is going to change this fact. If it was simply improvement, they would have greeted him as they normally do, they did not. They died, end of their story.
In terms of them not mourning enough, I think the idea of pushing negative emotions to the back burner is a habit of all huntsman and just people of remnant. Negativity brings tragedy, and thus a spiral begins. Now it doesn't help that things like the faunus issue so there's always seeping negativity somewhere in the world.
I've felt for a long time that the smith may be alix herself who was reforged. Probably after the cat broke her and disposed of her. And as the episode stated, "she wanted to stay behind to fix the things she broke". So that's how she does it, her new purpose is to mend the things that have broken
Absolutely loved the episode 😄 Jaune development always automatic W Ruby's dialogue excellent As for wby's grief being dealt with the way it was I don't have a problem with it, but I will say that this is where one more episode would have come in handy to put more focus on it. Oh and let's acknowledge how much Jaune has improved fighting wise Nice headbutt and kick White knight Best ship
It would be cool if Ruby returns with a new outfit, one that reflects herself instead of Summer. The same red and black colour scheme will be kept, along with her cape, but it will differ from Summer’s design and will instead be something that RUBY wants to wear, rather than it being an attempt to copy her mother. I don’t think CRWBY will erase Ruby’s memories, because that’s essentially killing off the main character, but I do think Ruby should have an upgraded weapon, one that combines the functionality of her role models’ weapons (Qrow, Summer, etc) but is reformed into a more unique item that represents who Ruby wants to be, rather than who she’s pretending to be. Her weapon of choice could even go hand-in-hand with her Semblance, allowing her to step up her combat significantly. Ruby will honour her mother’s victories, but can learn from Summer’s mistakes, forging her own path using where Summer went wrong as a basis for where Ruby can go right in the future. Ruby branching out and discovering who she is, is going to be a very crucial step in her ascension. I hope that when Ruby wakes up, she’s got full control over her silver eyes and is stronger than ever, to the surprise of her team mates. Ruby could then send the cat over the edge of the tree like what happened to Jaune, and Yang will approach her. Ruby might turn to face Yang, who might say the same thing Ruby said to Penny when they turned her human. Ruby will then hug Yang, confirming that Ruby is still herself. This will prompt WB to join the embrace. At least that’s what I want to happen.
I think Ruby will come back with new armor that similar to her mother's and maybe an improved Crescent Rose that has a mixture of her mother's weapon but still keeping the Crescent Rose. She will not become her mother but be similar in a lot of ways. Like Herb, he still looks like Herb but with wings.
My assumption was that the weapons were going to belong to the fallen like Pyrrha and Penny, and Ruby would consider leaving herself behind to become these other characters, but that Penny, Pyrrha, her mother, Little, someone would ask her: "would they want that for Ruby?" And she'd say well... No. Penny would be heartbroken if that happened. Pyrrha would be saddened to have lost a life. She may even say that Jaune's gone too long without her, and he's not the boy she fell for anymore, and has nothing to return for. For each of the fallen that Ruby feels gulit for, there's a solid reason for them not to come back. Except Clover. Don't bury your gays, CRWBY. He was just a waste.
I think what people are missing is that the Genial Gem that talks to Jaune first is the one who used to be called Ruby, so seeing them okay and better than before is how WBY realizes that Ruby is okay and that the Tree will help her. That's why they aren't mourning her as much, they know she'll change but also that she's safe and being taken care of.
I personally think that mask we saw was for little, it was vaguely mouse shaped, and little promised she’d get everyone home. Perhaps ascending for her means becoming someone greater that can get them home safe, a warrior. Just a thought though.
WBY probably are still working off on their understanding of ascension, that it is rebuilding you , so they're not super worried and just think that ruby was physically hurt and blaming herself. So hopefully next episode ruby will tell them her reasoning so they understand how close to losing her they were
You miss the fact that even if WBY had accepted things Ruby and Jaune had not yet and maybe the tree could not bring anyone there alone sine they were all together
Friendly reminder that *Little fell alongside Ruby,* and that mask had a mouse-looking nose.
The Blacksmith is most likely reforging Little.
THIS
YES INDEEDY
The question is what will little become? Will little remain the mouse guide? Or will little become a giant wolf like beast that could better protect Ruby…both guide and guardian?
That's what I thought :D
Bruh I didn't even notice loll. Cool!
Shoutouts to Jaune for admitting he was wrong for doing what he did to the Paper Pleasers.
We respect growth.
She may have been deflated after what happened with Ruby, but I'm surprised Neo didn't seem to have even an ember of vengeance left for Cinder and her betrayal - Roman may have survived if it wasn't for Cinder's plan after all.
She truly thought Ruby did it
She only attacked Cinder to vent her anger her real target from the start was always Ruby
Cinder was someone she despised but 99% of her drive and animosity was still aimed toward Ruby - especially now that she was stuck in an entirely different realm where Cinder was out of reach.
She's aware, hence why she went after cinder in the first place. However, the gap in strength between the two is too vast. So she'll settle for what she can get
I'm guessing she thought that going after Cinder would end the same way as Ruby even if she succeeds, so that's no longer worth it
Cinder still betrayed Neo and caused her to fall. I’m also surprised there’s no animosity for not saving her.
whatever Ruby chooses, whatever she decides, I am PRAYING hoping she'll still be herself with her memories intact, but with a brand new outfit and stuff, plus an evolved semblance.
Couldn’t agree more
I just want to see a good old happy ruby after all this trauma
Emphasis on the new outfit, I would love that so much.
Will ruby rose still have crescent rose with her
She’ll probably be the same Ruby but what you should hope is she grows
The Blacksmith's headband is Alyx's bandana. The blue one. The person in the Ever After that fixes everyone.
Omg yesss!!!
Oh shiznits
I had that feeling ever since I saw the blacksmith in the episodes. And with the info the cat gave us makes even more sense for the smith to be alix. "She wanted to stay behind to help repair the things she broke." And what's the title of the one who repairs and creates? A smith.
I have been searching for that little piece of detail for Alyx. So much to get distracted by lol
Also the back of the Smiths hair?? Is very similarly colored to Alyxs waist sash
I think they got to the tree that fast because as long as they were in a group, the tree would not "grant" passage unless everyone had the right mindset.
Blake, Yang and Weiss had passage after visiting Herb and figuring out their feelings, but they were held down by Ruby.
Then after Ruby left, they were held down by Jaune, that's why after Jaune learnt to accept everything, they got immediately transported to the tree.
All I have to say is, damn Jaune's strong. He literally punted the Neo Cat with his head, then his leg.
The Cat actually seems weaker than Neo now, maybe because The Cat isn't familiar with Neo's body, Jaune and the others did seem to be having more luck fighting the Cat than Jaune, Ren, and Nora did.
i noticed neo x cat does not have the weird effects on their voice like last time i wonder if that means anything
To be fair Jaune is much more experienced, and JNR was kinda suffering from the Worf effect in that fight I think.
Yeah the Mad Catter doesn't seem to have her fighting style and is focused on the power itself. Harder not smarter in this case.
The dumb cat is using Raw power, but Neo's skillset is a dex build.
@@CandleBite that awkward moment when you teach your SpAtk Pokemon Mega Kick
Out of all the episodes in Volume 9 this is so far my personal favorite one.
-Yang shattering the illusions in rage
-Jaune kinda kicking the cats butt
-The paper pleasers being reborn
-Group hug moment
-Comedic posing from NekoNeo
However, I do hate how agreeably jarring the group hug moment was as literally few minutes ago....they just saw Cat take over Neo's body very morbidly and Ruby go into Ascension.
For me it’s the Yang smiling.
I actually don’t think the hug is wrong especially Weiss. Her and Jaune have two defining moments together that forged a bond. Jaune saving her life, and the mercy killing of Penny. She omitted Jaunes actions when retelling to Yang Blake and Ruby exactly what happened to Penny, and after the knights reveal they’ve done a good job framing Weiss and Jaune together.
As for Yang the smile is what bothers me. She spent half a volume following Jaunes lead. She saw him at his best, with Ren throwing failures in his face. Yet he forged ahead, and in monstra terrified Jaune acted as a beacon for her and Ren. Ren literally said that Jaune had no fear he knew they would save Oscar. When Yang heard that. She responded “then I do to” So her being happy to see him come out of his broken she’ll must’ve been a relief for her.
If they were combined...Neo's Overactive Imagination combined with the cat would REALLY make her a Cheshire Cat of a character...I could see a now cat Faunus Neo vanishing slowly from view only to reappear near Cinder later...showing up first as a wide grinning tooth filled mouth and eyes before stabbing her with Hush. Very much like how the Cheshire Cat appears and disappears, usually smile first when appearing or smile last when disappearing. I could see Blake just having the blankest look on her face at seeing Neo is now a cat Faunus like her.
I just realized that Ruby chose to ascend.
While Jaune may have no choice but ascend.
It's stuff like this where I love the connections Jaune and Ruby have.
Do you know how to make the most awkward version of the denouement of this story ? If Ruby becomes Summer. And Jon will now be reborn as Pyrrha . I think in this case there will be "every team exe not responding" for at least a month =)))
I am actually fine with the tone of the interactions between Yang, Blake, Weiss and Jaune. Because them seeing the ascended Paper Pleasers confirms that the tree isn't death. I think the pacing was a little off here. Maybe showing them leaving the Manson wasn't smart because it made it feel like this happened immediatly after last Episode. But after watching the whole episode I do think they took a little bit of time to overcome their shock and focus on getting to the tree. I also think it wasn't acceptence for Ruby's fate that brought them to the tree but acceptence for their own failures.
that was actually one of the only good dynamic that includes wby all together. god dammit it they show more concern and compassion to jaune than ruby wth
Even if ascending didn't actually kill her, Ruby was still in a mindset to take an action she thought was lethal. That's the issue.
@@kingnewgameplus6483 I don't know that the team is actually aware that Ruby basically wanted to die. They only saw Ruby drink the tea, they don't know the extent of the torture that she endured beforehand, they don't know that Ruby said she didn't want to be herself anymore.
From their POV, they agreed that the tree was rebirth, not death, then Ruby had a burn out and decided to be reborn. So yes they are worried about what's gonna happen to Ruby now, but I don't think that they ever realized that Ruby felt so bad she wanted to die. If they did, then it's not being portrayed well at all.
I think you're right and I'm glad that someone didn't spell it out for us.
Agreed, I just sorta assumed they had been processing everything that just happened on the ride away from the mansion. It took them a while to get to Ruby, so it makes sense it would take a while to get back, and idk how long they'd been riding for before the episode started. I do think they could have benefitted from another few minutes to expand on their feelings about Ruby before jumping into accepting their failures, but I'm okay without it
EPISODE 10 IS GONNA BE INSANE
Fr
Or it could be a downer
As long as its not another 10 minute episode bro.
The difference between Ruby this episode looking at weapons and Ruby in season one getting excited seeing different weapons. My heart can’t handle it
Agreed on needing an extra episode to explore the crew's reactions to Ruby drinking the tea. WBY needed to not only process what had just happened to Ruby, but needed to process how they all got to that point. They talk about it a little bit in Episode 8, but it wasn't really explored enough especially when they see Ruby beaten bloodied and with no light in her eyes. She drank the tea thinking she would die, and had committed to it. Even if WBYJ didn't know what Neo put Ruby through, they would still need to come to terms with the fact they weren't truly there for Ruby.
And I think, had we seen them accept that, it would have made an acceptable way for them to make it to the tree. As you pointed out in your "Build up to Ruby's breakdown" video, there were points where Ruby's wellbeing was pushed aside for the mission. Where even the Ever After was pointing out that Ruby wasn't well (the rain), which was ignored. So having them accept that they failed her would have been a good way to get them to the tree. It would feel more "earned", in a way.
I am so glad we didn't get traumatized this week. And really glad neo is so broken she doesn't want to return to remnant.
Now for ruby's time in the tree, i really really really REALLY hope she comes out dual wielding both her and summer's weapons with a red like roses part 3 at full blast
Or meging both Crescent Rose and Summer's Axe together would be better.
I just hope ruby rose get her mom axe and crescent rosé because I want ruby rose to get crescent rose back in her hand
@@alexandrapagan3222 possibly. I still want that red like roses part 3
Neo isn't Broken she just doesn't have anything to go back to
To her, she's fulfilled her purpose
The theme of acceptance is a lesson that Team WBY and Jaune have learned. Maybe even Ruby as well. If so, then they will have gained something that Salem herself failed to. Salem refused to accept the death of her husband, Ozma, which is what caused so much suffering to occur.
Ironically, if what was told from The Girl in the Tower is to be believed, Salem's father also refused to accept his wife's death and kept Salem like she was property because she greatly resembled her mother and feared about losing her "again".
His actions put a generational curse on Salem. Dooming her to repeat his mistake.
Besides, people can't just accept death, immediately. They need comfort and love from people to who care for them.
The problem is Salem never had anybody else before Ozma came along. She had no friends, no siblings and not pets. It was just her nanny. But we don't know what happened to her before or after Ozma saved Salem. She might have passed away at some point. Ozma was everything to her until he was taken away from her by natural causes much how her mother was taken away from her father by natural causes.
I think it's interesting the first Gem JWBY meets is red, you know, like a ruby, and its immediate response is to ask what it can do for them. I suspect that's some foreshadowing that Ruby will come back as herself, memories intact, with her new (or more like renewed) purpose to simply try to help, even if sometimes the world has to dissolve a bit to get to something beautiful.
I think ruby might become a more confident version of herself realizing she might finally realize she is not alone because no one is ever truly alone
Maybe a extra scene of them inside the manor trying to process what happened to Ruby, but then Juniper signals for them to hop on before the manor fully collapses and it takes them a bit of time to get back to the flooded village.
I know that this will be a little OP, but I hope Ruby's ascended form has easier access to her Silver Eyes power. I mean, they teased it so much, only for it to be near-worthless because Ruby went through too much trauma to use it...
I'd say there is an 80% chance of this happening, and might have an _evolved_ version.
@@logan12satcom83 I think it's more then 80% actually.
I still think this entire season would be entirely obsolete if they don't get out with something they can use for the war against Salem.
She ls going to alot more powerful all about
Around
@@CrimsonRose2 For free and 0 character development ahahahhah
I think the reason why Weiss, Blake, Yang and possibly Jaune went directly to the tree at that moment is because they already answered the questions they had to answer to go back to remnant.
When team RWBY arrived in front of Herb, he burned leaves of the tree, surrounding them with smoke and making them face their younger selves. Weiss, Blake and Yang where all sure of who they where and conscious that mistakes are not a reason to lose hope. But Ruby didn't answer the questions, because she was stopped by the Cat, plus not knowing what to answer.
I don't know / remember if Jaune answered the questions too when he was with Lewis and Alyx. But I do think that Weiss, Blake, Yang and Jaune simply needed to understand the purpose of these questions, which is acceptance, of themselves, and that life is not as simple as they thought so when they where young.
This was the only episode this volume that made go "That's where it ends?!" when the credits started to roll
Agreed, when I seen this episode I felt it went too fast.
I gotta say Summer’s voice sounded exactly like I thought it would. As far as with Alyx I’m leaning towards her being the blacksmith and it will likely be the blacksmith stepping in to stop the cat by sending it to be ascended in the next episode.
I don’t think the Blacksmith was forging a Jabberwalker mask, it looked more similar to Little’s face, only bigger.
Honestly, I think it would be kind of interesting if Little ascended from a tiny mouse to a giant squirrel!
Ratatoskr perhaps? The squirrel that maintains the world tree?
@@DemonMankeyMan Yep. That’s what I had in mind.
Weiss shot Jaune with fire dust and may have killed him.
The prophecy of Joan of Arc dying in flames has been fulfilled. Even in the intro with Jaune in the flames.
Talk about friendly fire. Plus, it's a good thing that she did. Now Jaune can Ascend back into his younger body
Well I think I know who Little will come back as.
Ruby is Red Riding Hood, Summer was hinted at being the Woodsman and Now I think we're going to get the REAL Big Bad Wolf and not just Grimm stand ins.
As for Neo as I said in a comment on episode 8, I think when Ruby comes back she's going to try and save her, Help her find a reason to come back to Remnent, Maybe convince her to do what Roman never had the chance to do create a criminal (she's still working through some things) empire!
It looked to me like the blacksmith was making a mouse shaped mask, so i think little is the one who will take Jaune's Role as protector once he leaves.
*Eddit* Also it was obvious Alex stayed because we know the Author of the book is name Lewis
There's a line from Macheveli's The Prince that fits this arc. 'Arms and armor of others either fall off your back or weigh you down.'
The way I see it it might turn into Amy rosé moment from the Archie comics where Amy wished herself to be a bit older. Ruby isn’t going to wish herself to be exactly her mother but I do feel she will age and be a bit older than everyone. We will see a blend of maturity but still the side of Ruby we still know.
Honestly have some issues with this Ep. 1: Not sure why everyone seemed fine at the start, thought it would show the group being affected by seeing Ruby disappearance at the start with Yang breaking down before being helped back up. 2: Wish they extended Jaune’s arc since it seemed rush with the start of him coming to terms already, felt it could be pushed more. 3: Thought the dialogue would be different and more deep with Ruby letting out everything, her fear, anxiety, pain, to receive much needed guidance from the smith, perhaps showing visions of her mother and what led her to who she was before she changed, maybe show her what could have happened if she hadn’t done anything. 4: I hope to God Neo does not die or get trapped in the Ever after realm, it would be a damn shame.
So for 4, neo more likely is gonna stay. There really isn't anything left for her in remnant, even if she tried to get revenge on cinder for her betrayal it's impossible for her to even succeeds at this point. Also the fact that having her revenge with ruby it didn't make her feeling any better most likely lost her her only reason to live. I do believe that neo is gonna ascend into either a new cat or as a new companion for anyone that falls to ever after.
@@samgome01 find that as a waste of her character sadly
@@LordEyepatch least she stays alive somehow with a better chance of redemption, as you see neo can't pass through the door because there's nothing for her in remnant and her only motivation getting swallowed by the tree my her doing. That's my opinion though, have a idea what is neo's purpose or motivation can be after if the heroes are able to take the car out of her body
@@samgome01 as of right now she has none but perhaps talking to the group may provide something that will allow her to return
Personally, I feel like Ruby’s ascension will affect Neo somehow and create a connection and she’ll have a reignited anger towards Cinder, since in an early episode when Neo fell down, it was made quite apparent she hasn’t forgotten that betrayal, but with Ruby “gone” she got a haze. “I did it, now what?” Could you imagine if Ruby ends up replacing the void Roman left to sate Neo? Very speculative but not outside of the possibilities I imagine
That would be nice, Neo seeing Ruby repurposed giving her a desire for a new purpose of her own.
It wont be she is void of anything she is trapped there
Look, I'm loving this volume as a whole. But I was expecting the team to be far more devastated after Ruby fell. Specially Yang. She saw her beaten up sister basicaly commit suicide in front of her. But she was already smilling right after that and that group hug? Not the moment for that at all... I couldn't stop thinking about how out of place that was through the entire episode and is things like this that makes me question crwby capabilities sometimes...
She is worried for Ruby becoming different and not being herself when they were at the tree and you see Yang trying to break Ruby free.
You have to keep in mind tho, this isn't death. They knew Ruby wasn't dead. She was just becoming something different. Sure, that's still them losing Ruby in a sense and Yang reacts when the reality of it all hits her and she starts trying to break her sister out of the tree. But the reason we saw the new PPs is to let us know that Ruby will be okay. She'll be different, but she'll be what she needs to be and we need to welcome that. No big reactions because the team knows that things will be okay as long as they keep the cat from ruining Ruby's ascension.
I couldn’t agree more. I was thrown off at that part. It felt off putting that the entirety of WBY didn’t even stop to mention what just happened to Ruby. You would think that if your sister, best friend, or long time comrade practically died and was taken you’d get some sort of reaction. It was only when they saw Ruby at the tree encased in wood that only Yang had some sort of reaction. Other than that, I really liked this episode and look forward to what Ruby will become.
This episode completely killed the momentum of the previous one.
It was very jarring and left me with my mouth open and eyebrow raised at the end of it.
i kinda give the team a lil more leeway because we saw how badly Ruby was emotionally and physically assaulted, but the team didn't. All they saw is Ruby drink from a cup and get swallowed up from the earth. And then had to run from Cat Neo immediately after. I see this argument a lot that "It's basically like suicide" and im not gonna argue that it isn't, but when you think of it from their perspective, it's a little harder to conceptualize? First they were told that ascension meant coming back, and then Jaune tells them that ascension meant Death, and then back again when the former PP explained that Ascension meant Rebirth. Now, Ruby is gone and they're going to go get her back, so maybe in a sense, it hasn't really hit them about the possibility of Ruby being truly gone.
I'll admit tho, this episode was much too short to be entirely satisfying so i understand why a lot of people were unhappy with the direction the story went went, resolving the team's emotions too quickly.
If Jaune does ascend at this moment he could very possibly end up along with Ruby to talk with her. Completing that foil you mentioned. Also I think Juniper could very well be Alex due to the cat saying that Alex would save the knight which would connect things. Neo could also at the end of this, ascend as well once the cat is removed or could even stay behind in the world. Either way could work but I dont think she will die. Just my opinion, hell she could ascend and come back with a voice. That would be cool.
Little could be a repetition of Summer Rose, Ruby's memories of her. The perfect guide for Ruby. (just a thought)
It did all happen a little too quickly but I have dealt with the death of a loved one and it took me a lot longer to process their death and was able to feel any emotion attached to it. But they probably could have cared a little more about Ruby pretty much dying right in front of their eyes.
It's nice to see Summer Rose after so long and now,The Endgame.
BTW,Those Ghoul Rubys would really work well as an Evil Reflection.
If you ask me, the only reason that It felt kinda rushed that everyone else Reach "acceptance" is only because they'd all already gotten there Before that point. Yang and Blake literally had a whole world to themselves to reach acceptance about themselves. Weiss Gave up with trying to understand the everafter about at the same time as that as well, which is it's own form of Acceptance. Jaune and Ruby were the only two of them that ACTUALLY had more emotional growth to do with their present selves when they got sent to the tree. I should also note that I'm Fairly Certain that it's about Acceptance of the Self, not necessarily of Circumstances. So Yang Refusing to accept that her Sister Might be In trouble and that she can't Help would not Disqualify her from this "Acceptance".
One thing is for sure is that this volume was a roller coaster that had to happen.
I really did love this episode by I agree that there was this lack of urgency and lack of shock from the characters after seeing ruby in a physically and emotionally beaten state and seeing her just fall through a hole. Their acceptance also seemed rushed. I feel as though they are still not aware of Ruby's feelings and the weight she's been carrying which led her to drink the tea in the first place. I hope that this will be still be confronted and talked about next episode or even next season cause its a delicate situation ruby is in and deep communication is needed between her and her teammates.
I am in team Alyx is the Blacksmith. It may not be that the blacksmith is the tree, but just helping out the tree. A way to communicate with the ascendants and better understand them.
I also want to point out, that after so many years, and the trauma of volume 1 I would assume Jaune would have a landing strategy to not die from that fall.
I believe the Blacksmith was actually reforging Little. I like to think that Little will become a huge Squirrel, a tie-in to the Norse Worlds Tree and the squirrel that lives in it.
This would finish Little's story and their journey to find what they are. They wanted to be a good guide and help Ruby get to where she needed to be, to help Ruby to learn who and what she is. The last things that Little did were to try and get Ruby to go back to her friends after she ran off after the fight, then they protected her from the cat, only to die trying to help Ruby get up and move. It would be fitting that Little becomes a guide and guardian to those around them, leading them to where they need to be the most. Emphasis on the word "NEED", Little seemed to try to lead Ruby to where they NEEDED to go, not always where Ruby WANTED to go. Becoming the huge squirrel would also make Little strong enough to protect and carry those who need it.
Just a small little detail, but the first weapon that Ruby looks at, is a hammer and could be another reference to Norse Mythology, Thor's hammer.
I find it interesting that weapons are what the blacksmith uses to show who Ruby could be. Ruby has always had a deep connection to weapons, even the show has shown time and time again that weapons are a reflection of the wielder. Ruby has always been better with weapons than people, Yang comments on it in the first few episodes of volume 1. The Blacksmith seems to be using weapons to ask the same question that Ruby has been asked so many times already, "What are you?". Ruby didn't seem to fully understand the question, it's like the Blacksmith rephrased the question in a way to help her better understand what was being asked. Perhaps Ruby was struggling the most because of this lack of comprehension. After all, it is hard to answer something when you don't even know what is being asked.
Ruby doesn't understand people, but she does understand weapons. The Blacksmith words it best, they ask Ruby if she could picture what the person who wields the weapon would be like and states that the one holding it could be you. they asked "What are you?" without saying those words.
"What do you choose to be, Ruby Rose?"
This is just another theory and idea I have.
I also believe that Jaune will ascend, being reforged, but Jaune's body is not the only part of himself that is 'broken' but also his weapon. Adding on to the whole "weapons are an extension and mirror of the one wielding them" theme that has been shown throughout the entire series. So, I think Crocea Mors will also be 'reforged' as well. Jaune has had his weapon reforged before, after the fall of Beacon he had some of Pyrrha's armor added to his shield. What if Crocea Mors is reforged with the sword being fixed with one of Penny's own swords. A reminder of both of their choices and sacrifices which shaped Jaune into who he is at that moment. There is also the symbolism of Pyrrha most often fighting with her shield, and Penny most often fighting with her swords being reflected in the two parts of Jaune's own weapon.
I was surprised by Alyx's change of heart at the last moment, and it does seem likely thar Alyx was reborn as juniper to make up for what she did to Jaune. Apparently I was wrong about Lewis being stuck in the ever after and Alyx returning to Remnant to write the story the girl who fell. I accept that Lewis wrote the story in remembrance of both Alyx and Jaune, and Alyx was killed by the curious cat. It also makes sense Neo to not have any reason to return to Remnant after her victory against Ruby in the previous episode. She has nothing left beyond her revenge, thus keeping the cat trapped in the Ever After. However, it does make you wonder how Neo will react when Ruby returns from ascending and returns to Remnant. Will Neo have a reason to return to Remnant if Ruby returns and goes back to Remnant? I just can't help but feel like the cat will either be killed as to be the complete embodiment of the phrase "curiosity killed the cat", or succeed in their desire to get to Remnant to finally find a way to confront their makers, who are implied to be the two brothers. I also felt that Yang, Weiss, Blake, and Jaune got to the tree too quickly, and weren't as torn up by what happened to Ruby in the previous episode as they should have been. I did however like how Weiss helped Jaune, how Yang initially try to get Ruby out of the tree, and how the group realize that it really is up to Ruby to decide how she goes forward from here, even if it leads her to be different from before. I also like the confrontation and battle with the curious cat in Neo's body, with Yang smashing the Ruby copies when the cat brings up the very real possibility that Ruby won't return the same person she was, with the cat having a reason to go after Ruby as their best chance to get to Remnant, with the rest of team RWBY and Jaune defending Ruby to give her a chance to decide what happens next for herself, and for even the cat using Neo's powers to take on the forms of Penny and Pyrrha against Jaune while also tricking Weiss into knocking Jaune off the tree. I really hope that Jaune didn't die. It was interesting to see Ruby😢 interaction with the blacksmith in this episode. I really do hope that Little does play a role in what Ruby decides, especially since both of them were sent to the tree at around the same time, yet Little has yet to be seen again. As much as I want Ruby to return mostly the same, there's no doubt that she will be somewhat different by the end of the volume. I can't wait to see how this volume ends.
I think the Skull the blacksmith was forging was Little! Little wanted to help and protect Ruby so maybe she wanted to be big! ❤
Big bad wolf little incoming…and little will want a piece considering what Neo did to little
@Matthew Costello even though Neo made Ruby basically off herself and killed Little, I've always liked her and I feel bad for her after she was taken over right after losing her only anchor to Remnant and life itself. But yeah little gonna have some beef with the cat and Neo so wolf go nom nom Neo will probably die. Or be set free and there will be the start of a collection of bad guys turned good.
One of my theories is this: if the Ever After came before Remnant, then the tree is a practice run for Ozpin. The brothers Grimm got the idea of keeping a soul, but changing the body, from ascension. Now, the only thing that soul needed to keep was its memory.
Also, I now believe in your theory about Alyx being Little.
My bet is on the Blacksmith allowing Ruby to make an updated "Crescent Rose"...."Cresent Moon", "Scarlet Crescent", "Scarlet Moon".
Imagine if Ruby does just become Summer:
Qrow: RUBY OH THANK G-
SummeRuby: hi
Qrow: *panicked confusion*
Tai: *equally panicked confusion*
Raven: this is not what I meant when I met you-
Ozpin: even I'm confused
I love how ruby look designed her weapon based on summer's and crow's weapons
A siyth that is also a sniper,
Crow's weapons is a sword that becomes a siyth
(and a shotgun)
A axe that truns into a sniper.
That's why ruby designed it that way
I am a very firm believer that Ruby has been subconsciously following in her mother's footsteps. Using her memories and stories of Summer Rose to measure what a great hero she was, and what Ruby should be. Particularly when you realise that in the past Ruby's reasoning to be a huntress has always been about the stories, she has read about them, but negates to mention who it is that read those stories TO her, as shown in the beginning of this episode. Weather she realises this or not, as also as a child you may associate things to certain people or memories without realising it. Much like how a certain smell or song for example can unlock a memory or nostalgia.
I like to think of the tree as not ascension necessarily, but an "Epiphany Tree" if you will, where you can come to realise what you what and what your "Purpose" is, as the Ever After seems to drill into you.
My hope for the next episode is to show us Ruby's memories of Summer, and how Summer has shaped who Ruby is. And to this point, Ruby will recognise and realise how much she has been trying to model herself as Summer. And then come to realise that she is not Summer, she is her own person and in doing so, will accept any mistakes or failures and will learn from them to be the best hero SHE can be. Not one that Summer would have been, or what Summer would have expected from her.
Yang has mentioned before that Ruby may have been too young to realise what was going on when Summer had disappeared, but of course children are resilient and come to terms with such things in their own way. And by doing so, Ruby has followed in her footsteps in becoming a huntress. Not to surpassed Summer or replicate her (knowingly) but it feels normal for her. And in essence, feel closer to the mother that she had lost.
(At 19:50) technically, you're half right on THAT.
I, admittedly, felt the same at beginning with the JWBY hug and that whole part. I was like ‘This is very sweet but y’all don’t exactly have time for this 😶’. I loved the Genial Gems though they were adorable :3
I feel like we were really let down at the start of this episode. There is practically no reaction to Ruby "ascending" herself in front of all of them. Even if they knew she would be back, that is a heavy choice Ruby just made. We pick up and it seems like the crew is thinking "well crap now we have to go find Ruby again". ???? She just made a choice that could potentially mean she will never know who any of her team or anyone from Remnant is ever again. Personally feels like a let down to not have a big moment.
What I wish we had:
We start the episode right where it left off. Yang falls to the ground head tilted back tears flowing, Blake falls down and embraces Yang "You don't always have to be the strong one, just let it out, don't hold it inside". Yang screams out in anger, in pain, in sadness. Cut to Weiss tears falling as she turns her head away, cut to Jaune, his head drops and tears fall down his face. *scream ends and Yang collapses into Blake* Weiss comes over and embraces them both. Jaune now through tears and a strained voice of pain gives a few words to rally the girls maybe something like "Ruby isn't gone, she will come back and we need to be here for her when she does." (or something inspiring). Then they leave and the episode plays out.
Don't get me wrong i'm not out here saying "I could have done it better". That is dumb. I just feel like we needed something to pay off Ruby's actions having almost no reaction last episode and to me feels like a let down.
So Ruby is brought to a fork in the road: continue trying to walk her mother's path or make her own.
22:30 To kind of give my take on this moment . In my opinion they should write it in a way where Ruby gets a new weapon, not necessarily Summer's weapon, but at least have some kind of a change there. and does not use Crescent Rose, at least not the same Crescent Rose she did before. Because if we can assume that the Weapon defines what the person is, it would be weird for Ruby to have this big of a change and still use the same weapon. Even tho i have to say, Summer's weapon looks pretty cool.
Guys. Yang, Weiss, and all of them just saw the paper pleasers that got murked come back as “better” versions of themselves. I feel like it’s actually completely reasonable that everyone wouldn’t be freaked out/sad after what happened to ruby because it’s already established that going to the tree isn’t a horrible thing. You always come back better from the tree.
I really hope Wiess didn't accidentally kill Jaune after that very important heart to heart they had for not only the White Knight ship but mostly character development. If Jaune does come back from the tree than there might be some problems among the way, Wiess has been mirroring the comic relief part him since volume 9 beginning. Jaune might become a Dark Supreme Knight just like Jaden was the Supreme King in YU-GI-OH GX.
22:38 - The ending credits had Summer's weapon on full display, that means its gonna be important to the series. They never put one-shot characters or things in the end credits, right?
If you think about each member of RWBY had moments to grapple with their identities except ruby. Weiss had icequeendom, Blake dealt with her Raj a with Adam and being a fonis, and Yang had her time dealing with her mother issues and loss of her hands.
The blacksmith is more than likely Alyx. The color scheme, especially in the hair, matches her attire.
15:08 - Just had a thought. We've seen what happens when someone dies in the Ever After. They ascend. But what if you arrive dead? Like Cinder's victims after being blown off the crossroads in Volume 8. I haven't seen any bodies in or out of the tree.
i'm glad some one said it!!! the happiness at the beginning was very disturbing.,
So I'm wandering if that scene from the opening with Jaune surrounded by fire was referring to him getting hit by Weiss's fire ball and falling. And also I'm a die hard arkos shipper but I can respect white knight as well.
I feel like because she chose Summer's Axe? Scythe? thing?, Ruby might not even change much at all.
They are very alike as people like Qrow, Raven, Ozpin, Salem, etc. have noted
Perhaps Ruby will return with her mother's weapon. And an understanding of what Summer had that Ruby did not. And that will be her ascension.
Hi, I love your videos! Seeing what you have to say about this volume and theories you have is very cool! It’s crazy that there’s only one episode left of volume 9, I’m very excited to see how it goes!
The genial gemstone is probably Ruby's equivalent (judging by its colour alone) which would be pretty nice thematically, her coming out of this stronger than before. The White Knight moments are definitely there (which I despise, Blumen all the way) assuming Juane doesn't, uh, fulfill his original character arc (pun unintended), which it's looking more and more like he might by the episode. I agree that when the blacksmith calls out Ruby's concern for the other souls it is selfish, but because she's trying to fulfill the same hero complex Juane describes earlier in the episode. Summer flashback is gonna be lit if it happens.
One thing that I noticed, is That Jaune NEVER Used his Greatsword Version of his sword and shield... He always used the BROKEN Sword...
It looked to me like the mask the blacksmith was forging was a mouse's face. We're watching Little being reforged in this episode! I also definitely think Alyx became the blacksmith. The headband she's wearing looks like Alyx's bow, and her locs are the same colors as the stripes on Alyx's skirt!
But most importantly, I think you may only be half right about what will happen when Ruby picks up Summer's weapon. I don't think she'll see her own memories of Summer, but some of Summer's own memories. She clearly idolizes her mother and wants to know what she really may have been like. When the blacksmith asks Ruby if she can feel the person who may wield the weapons, I think this is what she was talking about. Ruby may get a small taste of being that person when she picks up a weapon. And in picking up Summer's, she's challenging the standards she's been held to, both by herself and others
2:50 They should have been the "Genial geodes"
To be fair, the paper pleasers have been trying to ascend for a long time but Jaune kept stopping them, so they've had a lot of time to think about it lol
Cat may have taken on Neo's tricks, but he definitely doesn't have her grace in combat. One thing that really gets me though is whether or not Louis is really the one who wrote The Girl Who Fell Through The World. As we stated earlier, we aren't aware of Alyx's final fate. We know she stayed in EA but that's about it. If Alyx did ascend as someone else and then reascends back to normal, maybe she goes back to tell the story but with a mix of her perspective of events as well as well as Ruby's. I say that because throughout this volume, we've had that one lingering question: What are you? Unless their is some context that I'm missing, Alyx seemed to know what she was while Ruby was the one that was struggling. There was also something that Ruby mentioned about how the story was both true and yet false at the same time.
Did anyone Else LOVE how Catty Weiss was to The Cat?!
I'm Betting on That Mask Being Little and her returning as a Warrior!
Nice Capital Letters. You Must Be Proud Of Yourself.
@@ShayTheValiant Sometimes that just happens with certain types of phones. Probably unintentional
That last comment ís so off place
@@lockskelington314 that theory is so wrong in much aspects it is crack theory
I have been saying the Smith is Alyx for a while this episode made more certain about that.
Considering how Lewis Carrol wrote Alice in Wonderland, having Lewis in RWBY be an author in this case makes sense. I wonder how many people caught that detail?
Man, even almost at the end of a season Jaune just can't catch a break, taking fire and falling off shit.
As you said it doesn’t happen often with conjured illusions of loved ones but FMA BH also did it with Mustang and Envy disguised as Hughes and had already accepted full fact that Hughes is gone
I agree, I feel like JWBY should be more affected by Ruby's disappearence. Not only did she leave them after her outburst, showing clearly that she was going through a lot, not only did they rush in after she had clearly been beaten up by Neo, but they also just saw her basically end herself. No matter if she'll be reborn or not, she did in fact try to end her existance. Please, guys, show SOME emotion about it? It really seemed like they didn’t care all that much, and they were way to happy considering what just happened.
14:33 actually Jaune mentioned that after the poisoning incident is when juniper found jaune.
20:35 - Maybe Jaune will come back all shiny.
If you look closely at the doorway you can see door carvings of the brothers in their dragon forms.
Do you guys realize who’s color scheme the Curious Cat shares?! Human Salem! -And when he revealed his true colors? They were Salem’s monochrome theme!
-I refuse to believe any of this is Mere coincidence.
the thing about summer's face...it's is almost picture-perfect ruby's...so who's to say whether it was the mother or the daughter reflected in that blade back when? also consider who is holding the weapon(that can be made into a scythe) in the start of the end credit sequence. they don't have the look of either.
Maybe this is just me, but I thought it was weird how Ruby didn't just run away from Neo, and instead chose drinking the tea to "ascend" (especially when all her friends/family are there to watch, when we are led to believe it's the ultimate form of self-destruction and giving up). It's narratively equivalent to both suicide (maybe literal character assassination in this case), and being a free power up upon resurrection (The only consequence being you may forget your memories, but hey, free power up. Even Isekai power ups feel more earned than this. Drinking suicide tea and being rewarded for it, seems in really poor taste, but I'll hold my breath to see where they go with this).
It's also weird when the gang make the connection that being remade is what happens with ascension, but don't make the connection that the paper pleasers, upon becoming gems, no longer seem to have their memories. You'd think Yang would be really concerned about whether or not Ruby would remember anything at that point. It's equivalent to finding out your loved one is essentially gone forever, and like you said, prior to seeing the remade paper pleasers, Ruby could have literally just been gone, and Yang was acting way too unconcerned about that.
I think there is a chance we are go8ng to get a mix of Crecent Rose and her mothers weapon either that or Ruby uses her mother's weapon against the cat.
Also wanted to point out a dark moment that being since the Cat created Penny and Pyrha that mean the cat sat and watch Neo break down Ruby only stepping in when Ruby was at her lowest.
I also think the mask that the blacksmith was making was Littles new form.
Jaune was right. They have no memory of their life before, and they have a different body. They are essentially different people. The paper pleasers are dead. No amount of anyone lying to themselves that this is going to change this fact. If it was simply improvement, they would have greeted him as they normally do, they did not. They died, end of their story.
In terms of them not mourning enough, I think the idea of pushing negative emotions to the back burner is a habit of all huntsman and just people of remnant. Negativity brings tragedy, and thus a spiral begins. Now it doesn't help that things like the faunus issue so there's always seeping negativity somewhere in the world.
I've felt for a long time that the smith may be alix herself who was reforged. Probably after the cat broke her and disposed of her. And as the episode stated, "she wanted to stay behind to fix the things she broke". So that's how she does it, her new purpose is to mend the things that have broken
Absolutely loved the episode 😄
Jaune development always automatic W
Ruby's dialogue excellent
As for wby's grief being dealt with the way it was I don't have a problem with it, but I will say that this is where one more episode would have come in handy to put more focus on it.
Oh and let's acknowledge how much Jaune has improved fighting wise
Nice headbutt and kick
White knight Best ship
13:25 - Maybe Alix got reborn as Juniper the Jackalope. Isn't it weird that Juniper ended up at the tree along with JWBY?
I noticed that herbs smoke appeared when Jaune fell. I think that means that herb is helping Jaune not die. That's just a theory however.
17:49 The protagonist never attacks the illusion, then I must imagining what Roy Mustang does to Envy for mimicking Mayes
It would be cool if Ruby returns with a new outfit, one that reflects herself instead of Summer. The same red and black colour scheme will be kept, along with her cape, but it will differ from Summer’s design and will instead be something that RUBY wants to wear, rather than it being an attempt to copy her mother. I don’t think CRWBY will erase Ruby’s memories, because that’s essentially killing off the main character, but I do think Ruby should have an upgraded weapon, one that combines the functionality of her role models’ weapons (Qrow, Summer, etc) but is reformed into a more unique item that represents who Ruby wants to be, rather than who she’s pretending to be. Her weapon of choice could even go hand-in-hand with her Semblance, allowing her to step up her combat significantly. Ruby will honour her mother’s victories, but can learn from Summer’s mistakes, forging her own path using where Summer went wrong as a basis for where Ruby can go right in the future. Ruby branching out and discovering who she is, is going to be a very crucial step in her ascension. I hope that when Ruby wakes up, she’s got full control over her silver eyes and is stronger than ever, to the surprise of her team mates. Ruby could then send the cat over the edge of the tree like what happened to Jaune, and Yang will approach her. Ruby might turn to face Yang, who might say the same thing Ruby said to Penny when they turned her human. Ruby will then hug Yang, confirming that Ruby is still herself. This will prompt WB to join the embrace. At least that’s what I want to happen.
I think Ruby will come back with new armor that similar to her mother's and maybe an improved Crescent Rose that has a mixture of her mother's weapon but still keeping the Crescent Rose. She will not become her mother but be similar in a lot of ways. Like Herb, he still looks like Herb but with wings.
My assumption was that the weapons were going to belong to the fallen like Pyrrha and Penny, and Ruby would consider leaving herself behind to become these other characters, but that Penny, Pyrrha, her mother, Little, someone would ask her: "would they want that for Ruby?" And she'd say well... No. Penny would be heartbroken if that happened. Pyrrha would be saddened to have lost a life. She may even say that Jaune's gone too long without her, and he's not the boy she fell for anymore, and has nothing to return for. For each of the fallen that Ruby feels gulit for, there's a solid reason for them not to come back. Except Clover. Don't bury your gays, CRWBY. He was just a waste.
I think the smith is currently forging a mouse's head. Seeing as Little is also ascending if they were squeeshed.
I think what people are missing is that the Genial Gem that talks to Jaune first is the one who used to be called Ruby, so seeing them okay and better than before is how WBY realizes that Ruby is okay and that the Tree will help her. That's why they aren't mourning her as much, they know she'll change but also that she's safe and being taken care of.
I personally think that mask we saw was for little, it was vaguely mouse shaped, and little promised she’d get everyone home. Perhaps ascending for her means becoming someone greater that can get them home safe, a warrior. Just a thought though.
WBY probably are still working off on their understanding of ascension, that it is rebuilding you , so they're not super worried and just think that ruby was physically hurt and blaming herself. So hopefully next episode ruby will tell them her reasoning so they understand how close to losing her they were
I haven’t seen anyone mention it yet but Sienna Khan’s weapon was in the background among the other weapons.
You miss the fact that even if WBY had accepted things Ruby and Jaune had not yet and maybe the tree could not bring anyone there alone sine they were all together
Yang went full Roy Mustang on the fake Rubys